As with all 'forensic' science fields, forensic anthropology is one of the many broad spectrum of sciences that are used to investigate and establish facts in relation to criminal or civil law. In criminal law, forensics can aid in providing proof of innocence or guilt while in civil issues, forensics helps to resolve issues such as identification, analysis and can be used to evaluate physical evidence.
The overall purpose of a forensic anthropologist is to determine the identity of the deceased individual, which is achieved through the analysis and the determination of age, stature, ancestry and sex. These basic principles are usually the first to be determined through a range of processes in order to correctly identify the remains.
Age is determined through examination of the bones, however due to possible nutrition deficiencies within the individual, the age is given as a range rather than a finite number.
The stature (height) is calculated through a mathematical formula based upon the length of long bones, usually the femur and tibia (Stout, S. et al 2011), different equations are used for each sex as well as for several geographic populations that are based on common phenotypic features or trends. The stature, like the age, is given as a range due to the same impacting variables of nutrition affecting growth.
The ancestry and gender are determined through examining the pelvis and cranium, features upon the cranium help to identify ancestry due to prominent cranial features while the physical shape and proportions of the pelvis can help to determine between male and female.
To determine the time since death and the cause of death, there are numerous areas within the forensic field that need to be used in conjunction with one another in order to be accurate, these include: pathology, toxicology, chemistry, entomology, biology and psychiatry. It is uncommon for just one field to determine the time of death or cause of death without the other fields having to supply information, forensic anthropology can only help to identify the time of death if there is still flesh found upon the remains, the stage of decomposition is noted and a time since deaths can be adequately deciphered.
Forensic science was first recognized in 1878 with a paper entitled “The Identification of the Human Skeleton: A Medicolegal Study” by Thomas Dwight (Houck, M.M. 2006). It was in 1897 however that forensic science evidence was given in a court setting in order to convict a murder victim (Soren, B. 2009), this case was a precedent for forensic science and it could be stated that its success in the court lead to increased recognition is its viability as a scientific field and caused it to grow exponentially, resulting in what is visible today, a multitude of forensic fields (Houck, M.M. 2006).
The overall purpose of a forensic anthropologist is to determine the identity of the deceased individual, which is achieved through the analysis and the determination of age, stature, ancestry and sex. These basic principles are usually the first to be determined through a range of processes in order to correctly identify the remains.
Age is determined through examination of the bones, however due to possible nutrition deficiencies within the individual, the age is given as a range rather than a finite number.
The stature (height) is calculated through a mathematical formula based upon the length of long bones, usually the femur and tibia (Stout, S. et al 2011), different equations are used for each sex as well as for several geographic populations that are based on common phenotypic features or trends. The stature, like the age, is given as a range due to the same impacting variables of nutrition affecting growth.
The ancestry and gender are determined through examining the pelvis and cranium, features upon the cranium help to identify ancestry due to prominent cranial features while the physical shape and proportions of the pelvis can help to determine between male and female.
To determine the time since death and the cause of death, there are numerous areas within the forensic field that need to be used in conjunction with one another in order to be accurate, these include: pathology, toxicology, chemistry, entomology, biology and psychiatry. It is uncommon for just one field to determine the time of death or cause of death without the other fields having to supply information, forensic anthropology can only help to identify the time of death if there is still flesh found upon the remains, the stage of decomposition is noted and a time since deaths can be adequately deciphered.
Forensic science was first recognized in 1878 with a paper entitled “The Identification of the Human Skeleton: A Medicolegal Study” by Thomas Dwight (Houck, M.M. 2006). It was in 1897 however that forensic science evidence was given in a court setting in order to convict a murder victim (Soren, B. 2009), this case was a precedent for forensic science and it could be stated that its success in the court lead to increased recognition is its viability as a scientific field and caused it to grow exponentially, resulting in what is visible today, a multitude of forensic fields (Houck, M.M. 2006).
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